Bibendum Wine has announced that it will merge with drinks importer PLB Group. The union of the two UK drinks companies will form The Bibendum PLB Group.

English wine producer Chapel Down has registered a record yield this year, harvesting enough grapes to produce almost a million bottles of wine.

McWilliam’s Wines Group has announced it is 100% family owned after purchasing shares held by E&J Gallo. 

Australian Grape and Wine Authority have announced the appointment of Stuart Barclay as market development general manager. 

Noilly Prat is enjoying growth for the first time in around seven years because of growing demand for vermouth from bartenders, according to brand owner Bacardi. 

Champagne Canard-Duchêne has announced a 2.54% volume increase between January and July 2014. 

Yealands Family Wines of New Zealand -  a leading sustainable winemaker - has appointed Helen MacFarlane as its new business development manager for the UK and Republic of Ireland. 

Chapel Down, the market leader in English wines and beers, has completed its equity crowdfunding offer in 24 days by raising the maximum allowable amount of £3.95m and achieving a new world record in the process.

The Wine Fusion has launched a mulled wine version of its Pig in a Poke ahead of the winter season. 

Kingsland, the specialist UK fillers, packers and bulk wine shippers has added FirstCape and Distell to its South African portfolio, as part of a strategic partnership with wine brand builders, Brandphoenix.

Despite a challenging year Siobhan Thompson, CEO Wines of South Africa (Wosa) is optimistic that South African wines are on the up.

Santa Rita Estates (SRE) has announced that the new CEO of the group will be Andrés Lavados, who has replaced Silvio Rostagno.

Agnes and Hermann Seifried, from Nelson’s Seifried Estate winery, have  beeen inducted as fellows of New Zealand Winegrowers, one of the New Zealand wine industry’s greatest acknowledgements.

The wine trade is in mourning after Wine Australia’s UK/Europe Regional Director Yvonne May lost her battle against Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia and passed away on Friday, aged 53.

Les Vignes Olivier Decelle has released the Maury Sec, Mas Amiel 2012.

Distell has announced the addition of a new wine range - 56  Hundred - to its Nederburg wine portfolio. 

The generic body for the Ribera del Duero wine-producing region of Spain has announced the launch of its first-ever major promotion in the UK.

A methuselah of Pol Roger Blanc de Blancs 2004 - estimated at £5,000-£10,000 - is to be auctioned at Bonhams, London on September 11, in aid of the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. 

The harvest has begun, and the 2014 crop looks to be impressive in both size and quality, according to the Conseil des Vins de Provence.

The Napa Valley Vintners has announced it will donate $10 million to create a disaster relief fund to help the immediate needs of local residents and businesses impacted by Sunday’s earthquake.

More than a quarter of Americans are spending more on wine in the off premise, according to a new report from Wine Intelligence.

The damage from the earthquake that took place recently in California’s premium wine producing region, Napa Valley, is variously estimated at between US$500 million and $1 billion.

Treasury Wine Estates is the subject of a bidding war, according to reports from Australia.

Recent research reveals that 59% of French wines analysed contained significant quantities of a particular form of phthalate, dibutyl phthalate, and only 17% did not contain any detectable quantity of at least one of the reprotoxic phthalates.

The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships has announced its medal results of the 2014 competition.

La Martiniquaise owner of the Gran Cruz, the world's largest producer of port, has announced the opening of a new site with a modern winery and centralised bulk storage.

Argentinean wine brand Trivento has signed an exclusive deal to be an ‘Official Supporter of Premiership Rugby’, in the UK.

Demand for wine is growing with a shift to new markets and consumers, according to Rabobank.

Two research studies into consumer closure preference in two of the world’s most dynamic wine markets, China and the US show that cork is the preferred wine stopper, according to Amorim the world leader in cork stopper products.

The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) trade association has announced that the first of Napa Valley’s sparkling wine producers have begun picking grapes, two days earlier than the start of last year’s harvest.

Champagne house Krug has released of a new vintage of its rare single vineyard cuvée, the Krug Clos du Mesnil 2003.

UK distributor Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines has expanded its marketing and sales teams with Chris Wilson joining as communications manager and Clare Cutler as national accounts manager.

New Zealand wine has become the number two country of origin in the UK market for wine sold over £7, according to the latest Nielsen data (MAT June 21, 2014).

Julie Campos will replace Dominique Pierre as managing director of the Centre Vinicole Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte in 2015.

Wines sealed with screw-caps dominate the UK and Australian wine markets, according to a new report published by Wine Intelligence yesterday.

Pernod Ricard Winemakers are about to launch Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel, a range of red wines finished in whisk(e)y barrels.

The English & Welsh Wine of the Year Competition, the industry's annual national wine awards, has boasted an unprecedented number of medal winners, with vineyards in south east England dominating.

UK drinks industry figures gathered for the Benevolent Roof Gardens Party last week to celebrate the end of the London Wine Fair 2014. They raised more than £10,000 for their trade charity.

Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) famous auction, the 34th, netted US$18.7 million this year.

Wine investors would have lost £35,000 last Friday if they sold one case of each Bordeaux’s first growth chateaux for the five years from 2009, The Wall Street Journal's Will Lyons said at a debate on the future of Bordeaux en primeur, at the London Wine Fair last Monday (June 2).

Pernod Ricard’s winemaking team behind Campo Viejo will launch their first Tempranillo Blanco wines next month, following trials at the Rioja brand’s new Experimental Winery.

Two of Britain’s leading wine experts have joined forces to offer a WSET entry-level wine award in a beautiful setting in southern England.

Russian consumers are turning to imported wines, especially sparkling wines, as traditional beverages such as vodka and beer decline in popularity, according to Wine Intelligence.

The Academy of Food & Wine Service (AFWS) has announced the names of the sommeliers going through to the semi-finals of the Moët UK Sommelier of the Year 2014 following the regional finals held earlier this week in Bristol, two London venues and Stafford.

CA Grands Crus says it has succeeded in making exceptional terroir-focused wines across its portfolio of Bordeaux estates in the region’s most prestigious appellations, despite a challenging growing season in 2013.

Michael Jordaan, a 46-year-old venture capitalist and former CEO of South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB), has been appointed chairman of Wines of South Africa (WOSA).

The South African wine industry expects an average sized, good quality wine grape harvest, with exceptional harvests especially in the coastal regions.

Brintex has announced Azerbaijan will exhibit at the London Wine Fair for the first time, joining other debutants English Wine Producers and The Douro and Estrela.

Kingsland Wine & Spirits and Legacy Wines will now be known simply as ‘Kingsland’, the Manchester-based company has announced.

Pernod Ricard has announced the purchase of Kenwood Vineyards in California’s Sonoma Valley from F. Korbel & Bros.